Mick Keelty arrived in southern NSW with rain still dripping from roofs. But inside his town hall, drought-affected irrigators desperate for more water demanded an overhaul of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, writes national rural reporter Kath Sullivan.

Police issue dozens of defect notices after conducting simultaneous raids on a number of Baiada chicken processing factories across NSW, after one of the company's truck drivers was charged over a fatal hit-and-run in Sydney.